Chapter 253: The Eyes of Aurora City

"So Aurora City isn't doing anything at all?" Jian Changsheng asked, frowning. "If the Aurora Lord truly dies, Aurora City's fall is inevitable. Aren't the Enforcers taking any measures?"

"Measures? What measures could they take?" Chu Muyun said slowly. "Aurora City must have started researching how to extend the Aurora Lord's life a long time ago. Believe me, they've done everything they can, but you just don't know it... They even considered finding a way to replace the Aurora Lord to protect the entire Aurora Dominion, but ultimately, they found nothing."

"How do you know so much about what they've done? Has the Twilight Society's infiltration of Aurora City reached this extent?" Jian Changsheng didn't believe him.

"Because I've seen it with my own eyes."

"You've been to the Aurora Base?"

"No, not the Aurora Base..."

Chu Muyun gave Jian Changsheng a profound look. "Do you think the Aurora Lord is the only one among humanity's nine major bases whose life is nearing its end?"

Jian Changsheng was stunned. He suddenly recalled a particularly unsettling and shocking rumor about the Twilight Society...

"Are you saying..."

"Some things, you'll understand naturally once you've experienced them yourself."

Chen Ling watched the two speaking in riddles, his brows furrowed in confusion. Just as he was about to speak, Chu Muyun continued:

"In any case, you two are the best candidates to infiltrate the Aurora Base. This mission is very important and extremely dangerous, so you need to be mentally prepared."

"But isn't the Aurora Base said to be the heart of the entire dominion, with extremely tight security, making it difficult to get in?" Jian Changsheng pointed to himself. "How are two 'Sixes' like us supposed to get in?"

"'Red Heart Six' has special means to disguise his identity and enter, but there are many checkpoints inside the base, so getting close to the Aurora Lord won't be easy... unless someone inside the base can assist him."

"Assist?"

Jian Changsheng reached out a hand, bewildered, pointing to himself. "...Me?"

"Exactly."

"But I don't have a way to disguise myself. How can I get inside the base?"

"You don't have a way to disguise yourself, but you have other strengths..." Chu Muyun said, smiling at Jian Changsheng. "I already have a detailed plan; it just requires a small sacrifice from you..."

Looking at Chu Muyun's smile, Jian Changsheng suddenly had a bad feeling.

***

Inside the cluttered and narrow room, Wen Shilin tacked a photo to the wall, then sighed deeply and sat wearily on the edge of the bed.

He looked at the opposite wall, where densely interwoven lines, like a spiderweb, connected numerous disorganized photos, articles, and journal entries. At first glance, it looked like a chaotic maze.

The dim, golden sunset filtered through the window, illuminating the dazzling wall. Wen Shilin rubbed the corners of his eyes tiredly.

After resting on the bed for a moment, he slowly got up and returned to his desk.

"New Calendar Year 379, December 28th..."

As he spoke hoarsely, the pen on his notebook began to write automatically.

"Another day spent indoors... However, I've completed the puzzle of all events possibly related to the 'Hand of Redemption.' Excluding those confirmed to be unrelated, I've ultimately filtered out three relevant incidents."

"First, Deputy Director Tan Xin secretly transferred a large quantity of explosives to the Aurora Base."

"Second, according to the transaction records from the Starlight Merchant Guild, a portion of organs was traded to an entity named 'Aurora.' The fact that the Guild only dared to record two characters without any further information indicates that it couldn't have been an ordinary merchant or individual alias... The only things related to these two characters are 'Aurora Dominion,' 'Aurora City,' 'Aurora Base,' and 'Aurora Lord.' Considering the scope, we can rule out the first two. Since the 'Aurora Lord' is already within the 'Aurora Base,' it's highly probable that those organs entered the Aurora Base."

"Third, there's the missing elderly person case I investigated six months ago... A patient deemed incurable by doctors vanished from the hospital without a trace, even their family was unaware, yet the next day a substantial sum appeared in their household account... The investigation of that case led all the way to the enforcers. Later, officials produced a voluntarily signed document stating that the elderly person, unwilling to be a burden on their family, had willingly donated themselves to the Aurora Base for human experimentation."

"Explosives, organs, human experimentation... All three are closely linked to the Aurora Base. What exactly are they doing there?"

Wen Shilin fell silent.

He looked out the window at the setting sun, at the city buildings and pedestrians stretching to the horizon, and a resolute determination appeared in his eyes.

"This case involves too much; it even cost Ah Cheng... I can't drag Lin Yan into this either. I have to investigate this myself."

"Too many people live in this city, their fates are not their own. If the Aurora Base intends harm to the entire city, it would be devastating... No matter how dangerous, someone must seek the truth..."

"I am willing to be the eyes of this city."

"...Recording complete."

As Wen Shilin finished his last sentence, the pen gently swayed and automatically dropped back onto the paper.

Wen Shilin took a deep breath. He quickly put on the jacket by the door, donned a gray beret, tucked his notebook and pen into his pockets, and, with a camera around his neck, hurried out.

Click—

The door locked shut in the twilight.

***

Night was deepening.

Residents along the street lit candles, carefully placed them into lanterns, and hung them from their door eaves. Squinting, they looked like clusters of blooming flowers.

Apart from the dense and bustling commercial district, most other streets in Aurora City rarely had streetlights. In an era where electricity was extremely precious, it was these gentle lights hanging by doorways that cast soft glows across the dark streets, guiding husbands, wives, and children toward home.

At that moment, a young man in a gray cotton coat slowly walked through the gentle lamplight. His shadow, like a flickering candle in the wind, constantly shortened and lengthened.

His chapped lips parted slightly, and a wisp of white mist drifted into the cold night wind, scattering into fragments in the blink of an eye, disappearing without a trace.

"Noodles! Hot, steaming noodles!"

"Young man, just getting off work so late? You must be hungry, right?"

"Come have a bowl of noodles to warm your stomach!"

A robust voice came from nearby. A middle-aged man in an apron stood at the doorway, a noodle strainer in one hand and the other on his hip. He enthusiastically called out to Zhao Yi as he passed, his voice like the warm winter sun, full of vigor and hope.

Zhao Yi stopped. He stiffly turned his head, looking at the noodle shop illuminated by lanterns, his expression somewhat dazed.

"Young man, why do you look so troubled?" the middle-aged man asked, puzzled. "You look like you're only in your teens. How can you seem more listless than an old man like me, who's nearing fifty?"

"...No, no." Zhao Yi's mind was a mess, and he instinctively waved his hand, completely unsure of what he was saying.

"Come in and have some noodles. You seem kind, how about an 80% discount? Our pork chop noodles are the best in Aurora City!"

Zhao Yi gazed deeply at the hot pot where noodles were boiling and bubbling, and he couldn't help but swallow.

But his fingertips brushed against the meager amount of money in his pocket, and he ultimately looked away.

"Thank you, but I'm not hungry."